Lengthy handwritten endorsement, signed “Go: Washington,” at the bottom of a one-page 9 x 13.5 manuscript land survey for division among soldiers of 1525 acres. The document begins: “In consequence of a Proclamation dated at Williamsburg the 19th day of February 1754, and Pursuant to a subsequent Order of Council of the 15th of December 1769, I have Surveyed the following land as part of the 200000 Acres Granted by Said Proclamation for the use of the Officers and Soldiers therein Mentioned.” The document goes on to give the specifics and boundaries of the land, and is signed at the conclusion, “W Crawford. Surv. of the Officers and Soldiers Land June 1772,” and also signed by six “Sworn Chain men and Markers.”
At the bottom portion of the page Washington writes: “By an Order of Council bearing date the 6th. Day of November 1772, this Survey of 1525 Acres of Land is ( as will appear by Reference to the said Order) to be Patented to the Heir or other representative Col. Joshua Fay, John Fay is this Heir. Let the patent therefore issue in his name,” with three more lines in Washington’s hand crossed out. Cloth matted and framed with a portrait of Washington and a small plaque, to an overall size of 28 x 24. Small stain to “G” of signature, several repaired horizontal separations, including several through Washington’s endorsement, a few small areas of paper loss to right edge, a couple small fold separations, and scattered light toning and soiling, otherwise very good condition.
In 1754, Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Colonial Virginia issued a proclamation designed to encourage enlistment in the local militia for the war against the French. In addition to their pay, those who enlisted in Lieutenant Colonel George Washington's fledgling Virginia Regiment were offered a share in 200,000 acres of land west of the Ohio River. Nearly 20 years had passed, however, until the veterans secured their bounty via this land survey. Throughout the years, Washington was persistent in his attempts to secure the military bounty lands—not only for his troops but for himself, as Washington was on his way to becoming a wealthy Virginian and land owner. In 1769, Virginia’s governor gave him permission to seek out a qualified surveyor and to notify all claimants that surveying would proceed.
In the fall of 1770, Washington explored possible sites for the bounty lands, making notes and observations as they journeyed to the junction of the Ohio River and its tributary, the Kanawha Rivers in West Virginia. In addition to himself, Virginia Regiment members entitled to land included the heir of the aforementioned Colonel Fry, part of the team which produced the well-known 1755 Map of Inhabited Parts of the State of Virginia, considered to be one of the finest examples of colonial mapping. Despite his best efforts here, Washington never received the land to which he felt entitled for helping fight the French decades earlier, planting the seeds of revolution in his heart. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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